Brown vs Board of Education

2004-05-18

Category:politics

May 17, 2004 was the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown versus The Board of Education decision that ended school segregation in the United States. This decision fits nicely in the Good Things category. It also is a good time to point out that Iowa is better than everybody else.

Back in 1876, we had a similar case here in Iowa. A Muscatine fellow of African ancestry, named Clark, sued to make things better for his daughter. The courts found in his favor and the schools in Iowa were desegregated. That's a full seventy-eight years before everybody else.

Sorry, couldn't help but do a little bragging (as though I was there or somehow involved.)

Regardless of when it happened, desegregation is pretty much a good thing. All persons need to be given access to opportunities. I can assure you that the quality of the individual has nothing to do with ethnic heritage. Racism is not something I want to happen because that means I get lumped in with all the other white people. There are plenty of white people with whom I don't want to be associated.

For every group of people, you will find that they typically fall into needed roles. Not everyone is equally suited to each role. That's why, in larger groups, we see the formation of social strata. Because of human nature, the people at some levels usually decide they are better than everybody else. We end up with social inequity.

Does that support the ideas usually present by racists? Nope.

As I mentioned before, there are plenty of white people I don't need in my life. (Quick note for those new to my site: I'm a white, mid-western guy.) If I have a group for some purpose, it's probably important to me that the others in the group do what they are supposed to do. Does that require a particular ethnicity? Probably not. (I say "probably not" because there are some situations that are important. Remember that in "Hogan's Heroes", Kinchloe could never pass as a German soldier.)

I think that allowing everybody to go to the same schools is a great way to concentrate efforts and resources. The best, regardless of race, can rise to the top. Everybody else gets to the highest level their abilities and inclinations take them. That's it. The whole world benefits.